THE REAL DEAL
RPI begins its 2019-20 regular season this weekend, when it hosts Minnesota State-Mankato in a two-game series at the Houston Field House ... Puck drop is scheduled for 6pm on Friday night and 3pm on Saturday.

ENGINEERS TIE EXHIBITION
Freshmen MJ Alexander and Julia Blitz each scored goals to help RPI to a 2-2 with Brock University in exhibition play on Sunday afternoon ... All three goaltender saw time, with rookie Amanda Rampado stopping all 11 shots she faced in the third period and overtime ... Junior Jenn Gregg had 10 stops, while freshman Ena Nystrøm turned away seven.

TOP RETURNERS
RPI returns five its top seven scorers from a season ago, including senior Blake Orosz, who set a Division I program record with 17 goals, to go along with 10 assists for 27 points – the most by an Engineers skater since Alexa Gruschow '16 had 27 in 2012-13 ... Senior Sabrina Repaci (7 goals, 11 assists) is also back, along with junior Lauren Severson (5 goals, 3 assists) and sophomore Mikayla Capelle (1 goal, 6 assists) with eight and seven points respectively.

TOUGH AT HOME
RPI post an 8-7-3 record at the Houston Field House last season afater starting the year unbeaten in five straight (3-0-2). The streak was the longest in school history to start a campaign. The Engineers haven't finished a season with a winning record at home since 2009-10, when they went 7-6-4.

NEW FACES
Eleven players made their unofficial RPI debut in Sunday's exhibition game, including two goaltenders ... Graduate student Claudia Black, who transfered from RIT, brings 97 games of experience to the lineup, with eight goals and 14 assist for 22 points.

ALL-TIME VS. MANKATO
The Mavericks lead the all-time series 2-0, both games coming last season in Mankato.

MAVERICKS SWEEP IN 2018-19
RPI and Minnesota State opened last year with a two-game series in Mankato on September 29 and 30 of last year and the Mavericks took both games by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 ... Six different players scored for Mankato, while Josefine Hansen netted the lone RPI tally ... Lovisa Selander made 30 and 26 saves in each contest, respectively.

SCOUTING MINNESOTA STATE
Corbin Boyd (8 goals, 14 assists) led the team with 22 points last year, with Brooke Bryant (11 goals, 9 assists) and Brittyn Flemming (9 goals, 11 assists), right behind with 20 points apiece. 

IN GOAL
Sophomore Abigail Levy started 34 games for the Mavericks last season, going 9-18-7, with a 2.35 goals against average and a .924 save percentage.